After the expiry of the contractual agreement with the Young Beninese Leaders' Association (YBLA) as the implementation organisation in Benin on 30 September 2018, there will be a new start for the AGYI in Benin. Supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation, GIZ), around 25 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from all over Benin met in Cotonou on 12 August 2018. Their primary goal: to further develop voluntary work and youth exchange with Germany in and for Benin. At the end of the one-day kick-off meeting, all participants agreed that they wanted to jointly build up a viable structure for this. Many of the civil society organisations involved already have experience with voluntary work and youth exchange programmes, partly with Germany as well as with other European and African countries.
The second meeting, from 24 to 28 September 2018, brought a series of concretizations on the working methods and contents of the network. All 25 actors had decided to continue their involvement. In order to realistically determine the necessary prerequisites for the new network, priorities, roles, responsibilities, procedures and resources were discussed. It is of particular importance for the NGO representatives involved that independence and sustainability are guaranteed in a future network. As a result, a first informal working structure and ideas for the next activities of the network could be presented. The young network is supported by the Beninese Service for Youth Voluntary Services (L'Office Béninois des Services du Volontariat des Jeunes) and the GIZ.
At another meeting at the end of November 2018, the structure and annual planning for 2019 will be further developed.
